


HG Wells is a Woman?

by erbine99



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23807509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erbine99/pseuds/erbine99
Summary: What if Macpherson never debronzed Helena? What if Myka found out her favorite writer was in the Warehouse? How would things be different?
Relationships: Myka Bering/Helena "H. G." Wells
Comments: 6
Kudos: 87





	HG Wells is a Woman?

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY APRIL 23RD. Credit to twitter's @TweetsWells for the idea.

There is a document on Artie’s computer. A manifest of every item stored in the Warehouse. It’s exactly as enormous as it sounds. But today had been slow - a day of cataloging and inventory check. Myka Bering was a curious woman. And who knows, maybe it’d be useful to know everything in the Warehouse. She had an eidetic memory, and she’d never forget a thing she reads on the list. 

The list was… badly organized. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to how artifacts are grouped. 

_Sappho’s Lost Fragment_  
_Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead_  
_The Apple of Discord_  
_Sylvia Plath’s Typewriter_  
_LSD Used in The Eleusinian Mysteries_  
_JIm Jones’ Kool-Aid Cup_  
_HG Wells_

Wait. HG Wells himself was an artifact? They were keeping HG Wells’ dead body here? In the Warehouse? 

While Myka’s attention was focused on the computer, Claudia walked into the room.

“Hey Myka. Sneaking around on Artie’s computer, huh? That’s more my thing than yours,” said Claudia playfully. Myka turned away from the computer.

“Did you know we have HG Wells somewhere in the Warehouse?” asked Myka.

“The science fiction guy? Isn’t he pretty dead?” replied Claudia. 

“I can’t figure out if it’s his ashes, or his bones, or what,” said Myka. Claudia walked over to the computer and took control of the keyboard. In a moment, she had pulled up a document.

_HG Wells - bronzed May 22, 1914. Debronzing pending. Can be found in the Bronze Sector._  
_Linked to the following artifacts - HG Wells’ Time Machine, The Interceptor Vest, The Antigravity Generator._

“The Bronze sector - have you seen a bronze sector because I haven’t,” Claudia commented. Myka knew the manual back to front, and there was nothing about a Bronze sector in there. And what did debronzing pending mean? Was there something they had to do to the artifact? Also, HG WELLS HAD MADE AN ACTUAL TIME MACHINE? Her favorite author was more than she’d thought.

“As far as I know, there is no Bronze sector,” said Myka. She stood up from the computer, and pulled out her Farnsworth. She pressed the button, sending a communication to Artie. In a few seconds, he picked up. 

Artie had been at the bed and breakfast, as his back had been bothering him.   
  
“Is there something wrong, Myka?” asked Artie gruffly.

“What’s the bronze sector?” said Myka. Artie sighed. 

“Nothing we need to bother ourselves with - unless something has gone very wrong,” Artie answered.

“Nothing is wrong. But apparently HG Wells is in there and ‘debronzing is pending’” said Myka. Artie closed his eyes, then reopened them, shaking his head.

“The Debronzing of HG Wells has been pending for decades. Until the regents give the say-so, she’s not coming out of there.” At the word ‘she’ Myka raised an eyebrow.

“HG Wells is a woman? You’ve got to tell me more,” Myka entreated. Next to her, Claudia was interested now.

“What is the Bronze sector and how do you come out of it? Is she alive? How’s she a she?” Claudia asked. Artie put a hand on his face, exasperated.

“The Bronze sector is where we keep the world’s most dangerous criminals. Do not touch her, do not go there, and do not - I repeat, do not debronze HG Wells.” 

“If she’s a criminal, why is she scheduled for debronzing? And what the frak is bronzing or debronzing or any of it?” asked Claudia. 

“HG Wells is, if I remember correctly, a special case. Not a criminal but dangerous regardless. Maybe someday we’ll take her out - but not today. And you are not to do it yourself,” said Artie with finality. He shut off his farnsworth and Myka’s screen went blank. 

“He’s really cagey about that, isn’t he,” said Claudia. Myka nodded thoughtfully. Her favorite author was here, in the Warehouse, in what sounded like some kind of stasis meant for the world’s worst criminals. It didn’t seem… right. Especially not if she hadn’t done anything wrong, which seemed like it was the case.

\------

Myka resisted the urge to find the bronze sector and free the woman. There were usually reasons for rules, even when people wouldn’t tell you them. Especially in the Warehouse, where the most innocent looking things could be incredibly dangerous. She didn’t ask Artie again, but it remained firmly on her mind. 

When Mrs. Frederic appeared (out of nowhere, as always) during a particularly difficult case involving an artifact called The Monkey’s Paw, Myka couldn’t resist asking. 

“Are we ever going to do something about HG Wells?” 

“Is that entirely relevant to our current situation, Myka?” replied Mrs. Frederic. 

“We never see you - so this was my only chance to ask.” 

“I’ll take it to the Regents again - it’s come to a vote several times in the last decade, but they’ve never agreed to take her out. Don’t ask me again, Myka. I have very little control over this.” said Mrs. Frederic. Myka didn’t quite know why this was so important to her, but she knew that it mattered. 

In a moment, Mrs. Frederic was gone, and Myka was left to clean up the whole Monkey’s Paw mess with Pete. 

She didn’t expect to hear anything about HG Wells again. 

\------

Several months later, on a rainy morning after a difficult snag bag and tag, Pete, Myka, Claudia, and Artie were eating breakfast at Leena’s Bed and Breakfast.

Pete was stuffing doughnuts into his mouth at a breakneck pace, while Myka slowly ate a bagel. Claudia was contemplating a cruller, and Artie had his own bagel. 

Artie seemed grumpy this morning. At least, grumpier than the usual. He stayed mostly silent though breakfast, until he made his announcement.

“You got what you wanted,” Artie said opaquely. Myka cocked her head to the side, confused. 

“We’ll be debronzing H.G. Wells today. Orders from the higher-ups.” Myka couldn’t help but smile. 

“HG Wells, War of the Worlds HG Wells?” asked Pete, mouth half full. “And what the heck is debronzing?” 

After the process was explained by Artie, Myka found herself wondering why in the world anyone would do it to an innocent woman. It was one of the many questions she’d been longing to ask HG Wells since she’d heard of her situation.  
\------

When Pete, Myka, Artie and Claudia entered the Bronze sector, Myka felt a surge of excitement. She hadn’t known if this would ever happen, but she had been waiting for the moment nonetheless. 

There were... so many people in the sector. Other than HG, the prisoner of the Bronze Sector who most caught Myka’s attention was Jack the Ripper. Even as a statue, the man was menacing. 

And then they reached the statue of HG Wells. Helena Wells, Myka reminded herself. Not Herbert. Frozen as she was, she looked almost peaceful. 

With the help of the Mesopotamian Bronze Steele, HG Wells went from a statue to a living breathing woman collapsed on the floor. Her breathing was uneven, gasping and then nothing and then gasping.

Myka, Pete and Claudia gathered around her. Myka knelt on the floor next to her. Pete had a box of cookies at the ready, to share with the woman once she recovered. Artie stood a few feet away, his tesla in his hand. He had said the woman was dangerous, but she seemed anything but.

Myka reached out and put her hand in Helenas. This didn’t seem like an easy process at all. Helena squeezed her hand, hard. It was amazing that a woman who’d been in stasis for almost a hundred years had such a strong grip. 

“Light.” gasped Helena. “Too much... Light.” She brought up her hands to cover her eyes. Everything must have been a complete sensory overload for her. Pete took off his jacket and passed it to Myka, who wrapped it around Helena’s face. It was a distinctly beautiful face, she thought. 

Helena lay there for hours, Myka at her side. Pete and Claudia eventually left, satisfied that Helena was not a danger. Artie put away his Tesla, but he stayed. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Helena pulled Pete’s jacket away from her face, blinking. 

“What year is it?” she asked. 

“It’s 2011,” replied Myka. 

“Felt like centuries.” said Helena, shaking her head. “Why now?” she asked. 

“Myka asked the regents about you. Wouldn’t have been my choice, but they finally agreed to debronze you.” said Artie gruffly. 

“And you are Myka?” asked Helena. She was looking up at Myka’s face, almost in awe. Myka nodded.“Thank you, Myka. It was an unending hell in there.” Artie stepped closer, something like regret on his face. 

“You’re not supposed to feel anything in there.” he said. 

“Have you ever debronzed anyone before? I haven’t. How would any of you have known?” asked Helena, her voice scathing. Oh god. She had been conscious. Myka couldn’t even imagine a year like that, let alone a hundred of them. Helena gave Myka’s hand a final squeeze, and then pulled her hand away, using it to push herself into a standing position. Myka stood up too. She had so many questions for Helena, but now didn’t seem like the time to ask them.

\-----

They brought Helena Wells to the bed and breakfast. Leena had a room for her - though she took one look at the woman and told her her aura was terribly pained. Myka was afraid to leave her alone after something so traumatic. She hardly left Helena’s sight. 

“You were an agent?” Myka asked Helena, who was reclining on her new bed. Myka was sitting in a chair by her bedside.

“Of Warehouse 12,” Helena replied. “From what I can tell, the Warehouse no longer resides in London - unless the world has changed a great deal more than I assume.” 

“You were in Warehouse 13,” Myka informed Helena, who nodded. 

“And this is, I assume, America.” Myka nodded at this. 

“Tell me, how has the world changed.” asked Helena. “Is the world better now than it was in the 1900s?” Myka thought of the wars since. Of the various ways the world was unkind. She wanted to lie, to tell Helena that everything was better now. In some ways it’d even be true. But she couldn’t bring herself to.

“Things change, and things stay the same.” said Myka. Helena sighed.

“I thought that might be the case. But you, you are something different than I’ve seen before.” said Helena. “Did you know that I was the first female warehouse agent in four hundred years?” She smiled at this. “And here you are, a hundred years later. And that Claudia - she works with you too. So things must have changed at least a little.” For women, the world certainly had changed. Myka smiled a little bit at this. “Your partner, Myka. The man who brought me those delicious cookies. Does he treat you as an equal?” Helena asked.

“He does.” 

“Then the world is still making progress. Perhaps I can be happy with that.” Myka had so many questions for this remarkable woman. Why had she been bronzed. What had her world been like? Why did the whole of history believe her to be a man? But she kept her mouth shut, and allowed Helena to ask the questions. Surely hers, after a century of not speaking, were more important. 

They talked for hours, until it was night. And then Helena asked her one final question.

“Would you stay here with me tonight? I have been alone for a century, and I’m not eager to do it again.” Myka could not refuse Helena this. She offered to take the floor, but Helena coaxed her into the bed with her. 

Myka slept in Helena’s bed for weeks. Most mornings, she woke up with the woman’s arms wrapped around her. She knew she should mind, should disentangle herself, but she never did. She also knew that the intimacy probably meant something entirely different to a woman from the 1900s than it did to her. Helena needed comfort, and Myka was happy to give it, but she felt… something that went beyond just helping someone else.

And then, one day, Helena said the words that would change Myka’s thinking about her.

“Many of my lovers were men,” said Helena proudly. And Myka’s own analysis of the woman was flipped on its head.  
\-----

That night, she climbed once again into Helena’s bed. Pete had begun this week to make fun of Myka and her “gal pal”, but she had shrugged it off before she heard Helena’s words.

Now she wondered. Was this romantic? It certainly seemed so from her side.

Helena was already in bed, reading. She had made it her mission to read her way through some of the more recent science fiction, to see where the genre had gone without her.

“I can hear you thinking, Myka,” said Helena, looking up from her book. 

“I haven’t slept in my own room in weeks.” said Myka. A guilty smile formed on Helena’s face.

“Do you want to? I think I could manage now.” said Helena, a little anxiously.  
“I should, but I don’t. I want to stay here with you, and I think that means something.” Helena bit her lip. 

“And what exactly does that mean?” asked Helena.

“You said today, that many of your lovers were men,” said Myka. Helena inhaled sharply.

‘I did indeed,” Helena replied. 

“And I can’t help but think, Helena. Is this a romantic thing? Because it feels like one,” said Myka. Helena flipped her book down, putting it on top of the covers.

“And if I said that it was, at least for me,” said Helena. “What would you do?” 

And then Myka was kissing Helena. And in that moment Helena shelved any possible plans of ending the world, at least for the moment. The Minoan Trident was unnecessary, if life could be like this. 


End file.
